aja540i

did a little piece of you die when you had to take it to the auto sparky? Will be interesting to see what they come up with.

As with most problems in life, more power is the answer here! If the brakes are a sensible size for the mass of the car they will pass the test, decent tyres and abs help.

It really depends on what you want to get out of the car, if you want to run it into the ground and scrap it after a few years then you dont have to spend any money on servicing, but if you want to keep it as new and hold a decent amount of resale value then you need to stump up the coin for a reasonable amount of servicing. I found that my service/ repair costs are slightly higher than other cars ive owned, but not out of line with the value of the car, and i havent really even shopped around much, i got jerry clayton bmw to do my clutch and flywheel, 5k but really how much cheaper would it have been to get an indy mechanic to do it with non genuine parts, and would it actually be cheaper long term.

Its the time factor that most cant cope with, 0-100-0 three times in 2minutes without a noticeable loss of performance! It can be fun to watch!

I assume that your trailer is braked, if so then e60/61 will have no problem towing it, they weigh in at about 1800Kg, if towing is the MAIN reason for buying the car then i agree you should at least consider a diesel, if it is just an occasional thing then a 530i should be fine just keep the cooling system up to scratch, including the trans oil cooler.

I cheated, i pulled the guts out of my garage door remote and put them up in the car roof with a small power regulator to replace the battery and a push button mounted in the panel. Works perfectly and is probably cheaper, but not factory looking.

and diesel.

Any protection you have as a limited liability company in NZ will probably not apply if you get taken to court in the US, you should probably get a US lawyer to have a look at the contract and advise you.

Make me an offer for the 540i touring! i cant let you go to the dark side!

I would go higher mileage, the mileage will change but the year it was made will always be the same, and people will generally pay more for a younger car when the time comes to sell it.

Rebuilt the carby, and put a muffler on the e21, but most importantly, got the stereo going! Now i just have to get the clutch and brakes working, and put a door on it! Nothing major.

What are the chances you would be able to get the tailgate trim out without breaking all the clips? (Like a panelbeater did to mine) i needvthe main piece that usually holds the toolkit, i have the fold down flap.

The lci on these was 2007, and its worth hanging out for. I recommend the M5!

Quick update, carb kit arrived today, 6 days from the UK, is exactly what i ordered, and looks to be very reasonable quality.

Would expect to see up around 14v at 2000 rpm with no loads switched on, but it will drop with all the load items going, this test is for alternator output under load, taken from the bentley manual.

According to mr Bentleys book, with fans lights rear defroster and wipers going, at 2000 rpm, battery voltage should be above 12.6 if its charging properly.

Its not quite as simple as it looks, all the big fuel companies have a stake in the refinery, so they get back a share of the refining costs as well!

If he had done that to begin with i would have been none the wiser, the only reason i even looked online is because he wasnt helpful. I had already agreed to pay $207 for the part and i assume he was making money on that, he lost money on this one and the next time i need a similar part where will i go first? Thats right, not to him!

But it didnt take off the original coating on the wheels, only the repaired stuff? Sounds to me like the prep work was sub-standard and the paint didnt adhere properly. Just my 2 cents.

I am happy to support local businesses, everyone has to eat etc, what bugs me is that it took the guy longer to fob me off with his excuses than it would have taken him to look on ebay, find the part, order it, and tell me what it would cost me! How do they expect to stay in business when they are actively driving customers to look for their competition?

Probably would have won! I have heard about all sorts of wierd things happening to the electrics when the ignitiion switches go, not necessarily draining the battery but it wasnt that expensive from memory. I would leave the battery on a longer charge first though, it shouldnt be poked at that age unless it has been abused, BMW say 10 years is the life of a battery!

I did mine as preventative maintenance, these cars go mental when they start to fail. You could also grab your multi meter and wait 15 minutes after you turn it off so it goes into sleep mode then check the current drain at each fuse to narrow it down.

Have you ever replaced your ignition switch?

Any professional wheel repair should stand up to water blasting, and wheel cleaner should also be safe to use on any professionally painted wheel, i would be going back to wheel magician for a refund if it was those that have been damaged.

Didnt you also put about $8000 worth of man hours into polishing it? GLWS.